: Re: How should I calculate the rate for a book I am writing as a co-author? I work full time as a writer and a friend and long time collaborator of mine has asked whether I can help co author

@Looi5811334

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I've faced this issue from both sides (as a writer and co-writer/editor) so hopefully I can offer some useful advice.

First off, be clear as to what your role/status is: to be blunt, is it a partnership or are you more like an employee? If you're effectively working for your friend, then an hourly rate (as others have suggested). The upside: you definitely get paid; the downside: it's unlikely to be a lot. In the UK, a typical advance for fiction from an unknown author will be £5,000-£10,000, so your friend won't have a lot of money to play with.

If it's more collaborative, then you need to agree on what percentage contribution you're making to the book, and write that into a contract. So if you decide on one-third, you get 33% of the advance and 33% of future royalties.

It's not clear how much work you're doing - do you mean 2,000 words in total? If so, then that's a tiny proportion of the total, and the 'collaborator' aspect isn't appropriate.

Hope this helps.

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